Our Team

Guiding Stars Licensing Company

About the Company

In 2008, Guiding Stars Licensing Company was formed to create opportunities for supermarkets, manufacturers, food service providers, hospitals and health plans, and other organizations to license the Guiding Stars nutrition navigation program. Guiding Stars Licensing Company is based in Scarborough, Maine.

Jim McBride

Director, Guiding Stars Licensing Company

Jim is one of the founding members of the Guiding Stars program. With a combined 34 years in various corporate positions at Hannaford, Jim has spent the last 14 years dedicated to Guiding Stars’ success. Jim designed the nutrition database, helped the scientific advisors develop the algorithms and led the initial data collection efforts to ensure that all product ratings are accurate. In his free time, Jim does a lot of community service work, but he loves being outdoors and especially on the water at Little Sebago Lake!

Elizabeth manages and enhances relationships with a wide variety of new and existing clients. Elizabeth brings to Guiding Stars, knowledge of nutrition and environmental sustainability. She is passionate about food: cooking, baking, consumption, and education on the balance between food choices and their role in human and environmental health. Elizabeth has experience in community, research, and clinical nutrition and most recently worked for Harvard University as the Sustainability Manager for their Law School. There she was able to work closely on food policy projects and as part of the working group for the University’s Sustainable and Healthful Food Standards, among other things.

She lived in Boston almost 9 years where she earned her master’s in Sustainability and Environmental Management as well as her B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics. Elizabeth is thrilled to now be back home in Maine.

Garrick is a Registered Dietitian and brings knowledge of nutrition and public health to Guiding Stars. He develops, manages, and coordinates nutrition and wellness programs using Guiding Stars for our clients and community.

Garrick earned his bachelor’s in Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Maine and his master’s in Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Rhode Island. He’s passionate about food insecurity and ensuring that all members of our communities have access to nutritious foods.

Joyce is the direct contact for Research and Development teams and assists them with analysis of product formulations. Her years of experience with quality assurance and recipe development make her a strong resource for our clients. She is certified by Stony Brook State University of New York in Nutrition for Optimum Health, Wellness and Sports and holds a certification through eCornell in Plant-Based Nutrition. In her previous career, Joyce was an ACE certified personal trainer. She is enthusiastic about sharing her extensive knowledge and library of resources to help people understand that most all chronic diseases in America come from a poor diet and can often be reversed with a healthy diet.

Ken brings to Guiding Stars a great deal of relevant success as a business systems analyst, and formerly as a scan systems support specialist. Ken has over 30 years of experience at Hannaford and Delhaize America in supply chain, merchandising and retail operations. He has long been recognized as the company’s lead expert on shelf tag systems. Ken was very involved in the Guiding Stars implementation over 10 years ago when we first launched and put the Guiding Stars logos onto full color digital unit price tags across all Hannaford and Food Lion stores.

Tim plays a key role in the data integrity of the Guiding Stars database. His primary role is to manage the entire rating process from initial data sourcing through entry and verification, algorithm selection and final rating approval. Tim manages the ongoing task of auditing information in our database to ensure we have the most accurate and current data available and a database of images of the products rated from our data team, independent photographers and vendor partners.

As part of the Guiding Stars data team, Karen ensures the nutritional data entered for products is accurate, up to date, and leads to the correct star rating. She is excited to see the nutritional content of products improving over time as consumers demand healthier options. Before moving to Maine in 2013 she worked in book publishing, event production for non-profits, and was a backcountry guide on horseback in Yosemite National Park. She is thrilled to now call southern Maine her “forever home.”

Tricia thinks that Guiding Stars is an important program that can easily be used to allow people to eat better. It means a lot to her that her role as data collector and verifier contributes to helping others. She accurately enters product data and proper algorithm selection to ensure accurate ratings of client’s products, protect the integrity of the Guiding Stars program and accurately represent product in our Food Finder.

Anissa Pinkham hails from the Midwest but has worked and lived in beautiful Portland, Maine for twenty years. Since earning her degree at the University of Nebraska, she has spent two years working for non-profit organizations as an AmeriCorps VISTA member and many more years as a legal assistant working primarily with the underserved population. She is excited to be working with the Guiding Stars team to help consumers quickly and easily make healthier food choices when shopping. Her favorite thing to do is spend time with her amazing family.

Dave brings more than 30 years of business experience to the Guiding Stars program. He has held various positions with Delhaize America and Hannaford including Sales & Marketing Analytics, Business Information, Training & Development, and Retail Operations. His knowledge of the industry is beneficial in the processing and maintenance of data integrity for the Guiding Stars program. Dave enjoys spending time with family, friends and loves outdoor activity including hiking, biking, skiing or motorcycling.

As a Data Verifier, Hilary accurately enters data and ensures the proper algorithm is selected. Outside of work she enjoys cooking, gardening, renovating her house, and spending time with family and friends.

Jason Ingalls initially joined Hannaford through Bonney Staffing in 2015 as temporary support for Guiding Stars. He progressed with the team to be hired permanently as the Image Team Lead. He oversees a number of in-house and satellite office employees as well as contract photographers in two Canadian provinces ensuring quality photographs and data support for the entire Guiding Stars Team. Outside of work he is either glued to his 7-year-old son, playing music with reckless abandon, or hiking the White Mountains.

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